New York has first daily drop in coronavirus deaths, Cuomo announces, as military heads to NYC

New York state has seen its first drop in daily coronavirus deaths, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday -- as the U. S. Northern Command said it would deploy a combined total of 1,000 Air Force and Navy medical providers to the New York City area to support relief efforts in the next three days.

Cuomo said New York also experienced a slight drop in intensive care admissions and the number of patients who need breathing tubes inserted. The hospital discharge rate is "way up" he said, calling it "great news."

“You could argue that you are seeing a plateauing,” Cuomo told reporters on Sunday, as he revealed that the state had reported 594 new coronavirus deaths -- down from the 630 reported on Saturday and the 562 on Friday. At least 4,159 people have died in the state so far, with approximately 122,000 total positive cases.

Pressed on whether the state was at an apex of coronavirus fatalities, Cuomo emphasized that he can't be sure.

"The statisticians will not give you a straight answer on anything," he responded. "At first, it was straight up and straight down, or a total V. Or maybe it's up with a plateau and we're somewhere on the plateau. They don't know."

"The number of beds doesn’t really matter anymore," Cuomo went on. "We have the beds. It’s the ventilators, and then it’s the staff."

Separately, the military said in a statement that the 1,000 personnel would work in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A total of 300 of these "uniformed medical providers will work from the Javits Center and the rest will deploy to other area locations to expand local medical capabilities in the war against COVID-19," U. S. Northern Command, which is leading coronavirus efforts for the Department of Defense, said.

Americans were bracing for what the nation's top doctor warned Sunday would be “the hardest and saddest week” of their lives while Britain assumed the unwelcome mantle of deadliest coronavirus hotspot in Europe after a record 24-hour jump in deaths that surpassed even hard-hit Italy.

As of Sunday, Britain has recorded 4,934 virus deaths overall among 47,... (Read more)

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